After finishing the meal, Su Yaqing brought out a completely different cake to celebrate Lin Jue’s birthday, then left in a hurry.
Lin Jue found it somewhat hard to believe. Su Yaqing had just left like that. She hadn’t triggered a death ending, so it seemed this was the correct choice.
“This… did I succeed?”
Stunned in place for a moment, Lin Jue realized she needed to start moving immediately.
Seizing the opportunity, she went to the convenience store the very next day to apply for a job.
The store was exceptionally quiet. The clerks who usually moved back and forth between the shelves were nowhere to be found, and there was only a single cashier left.
Pushing open the office door, Lin Jue found a woman who didn’t match the image in her memory sitting in the boss’s chair.
Despite being prepared, she still asked the question.
“Did the owner change?”
“She went on a business trip. It’s just me for now.”
The woman wearing a baseball cap had a slender figure and sat with her hands clasped.
“A business trip?”
“Mhm. Actually, our family owns many chain stores. She went to the branch on Guangyuan East Street to be the store manager there, so I’m in charge now.”
After explaining the reason, she glanced at the documents on the desk. Everything was sufficient to prove her identity was genuine.
“I see…”
Lin Jue pulled out a chair and sat down, then took out the fake resume Su Yaqing had made from her bag and pushed it over.
Actually, after hearing the woman’s explanation, Lin Jue already eighty percent believed her.
The citizens of Guangyuan City were very honest and rarely lied. The other woman’s figure might be a bit like Su Yaqing’s, but in a vast sea of people, there were plenty of people with similar builds.
Tossing the unrealistic thoughts from her mind, Lin Jue only then noticed that the other party had already taken her hand.
“Su Li.”
“Ah… I’m Lin Xiaojue.”
The two shook hands, and Lin Jue immediately began the interview.
The process went quite smoothly. Su Li only gave the resume a simple scan before passing her through every step.
Even without much preparation, her request to rest for ten minutes for every three hours worked was accepted.
The monthly salary was even set at the high price of 6,000 after tax.
“You look very young. I doubt you can handle that much labor.”
The other party explained it this way, and such a kind attitude made it truly difficult for Lin Jue to refuse.
At first, she was worried that the other party might take advantage of the dark and kidnap her one night. After all, such a stable job was truly hard to come by.
But after two full weeks of the interview passing, there wasn’t a single sign of trouble.
She gradually let down her guard.
Su Yaqing would still visit every day, but Lin Jue refused all the gifts she brought.
The new boss, Su Li, was also very concerned about her and would always send her some daily necessities.
As the days passed, Lin Jue worked hard to recover her strength.
Until one day, while Lin Jue was at work, she discovered her hand couldn’t even hold the scanner steadily.
Her slender wrist trembled incessantly. She wanted to lift it but couldn’t exert any strength.
*Thump.*
Lin Jue fell to the floor and began breathing heavily.
She remembered then that she had forgotten to wipe her sweat after finishing her gymnastics yesterday.
‘Is it a fever?’
She covered her forehead; her hand felt a wave of heat.
Lin Jue withdrew her hand instantly and called out in a small voice.
“Su Li… Su Li… I have a fever…”
Right now, only she and Su Li were on shift. This was the first person she thought of for help.
As if she had truly heard the call, Su Li walked over to her and picked her up in one motion.
Immediately, the light and shadows shifted rapidly.
“Su… Su Yaqing?”
She wanted to ask, but a strong wave of drowsiness made her consciousness grow hazy.
“Why…”
Su Yaqing placed her index finger against Lin Jue’s thin lips.
“Shh… just rest well.”
**[You Died]**
**[Ending Achieved: Self-Reliance]**
**[The role you play is not you, after all, and Su Yaqing didn’t want to play the part anymore.]**
**[Because she couldn’t leave you alone, Su Yaqing took over the Maotulu Food Company under the Su family’s banner. She sent the old store manager to a new branch on East Street while she protected you in secret as the new manager, “Su Li.”]**
**[During the simple, dull routine, she discovered that you seemed to like Manager Su more than herself.]**
**[No matter how much she wanted her beloved to fall for her, she couldn’t endure this result. It was no different from giving herself the same green hair as Gu Xue.]**
**[Reminiscence Unlocked: Part-time Convenience Store Job in Progress]**
**[Ability Obtained: Endurance I (Mergable)]**
**[Debuff Obtained: Acuity I]**
**[Note: Your current Endurance is no longer enough to resist “Acuity.” Please merge as soon as possible.]**
**[Remaining Simulations: 2]**
“How is this possible?”
Lin Jue’s small face turned pale, her gaze shifting back and forth between her own self and the Su Yaqing who had removed her camouflage.
Grimace, pain, and anger—a series of negative emotions were mixed on Su Yaqing’s face. She had never shown such an expression in front of Lin Jue before.
“Yaqing… she really…”
Lin Jue’s gaze fell on the hand Su Yaqing held behind her back. That hand was clutching some kind of ring-shaped object.
What was that?
She tried to investigate but found that her perspective was already fixed.
Since she couldn’t see it, she had to give up. Lin Jue turned her attention back to the urgent problems that needed solving.
She first clicked on Reminiscence.
The screen expanded. Next to the office where she had her interview, there happened to be a stairwell leading downstairs.
‘Does the convenience store have an underground warehouse?’
The secret passage opened. Inside the vast, dim underground warehouse, echoes rang out.
Then, the camera angle shifted.
Without waiting for the image to appear, Lin Jue subconsciously dragged the progress bar to the very end.
**[Viewing complete. Title obtained: “Warehouse Quality Inspector”]**
**[Equipping this title grants the following effects: Great Enlightenment and Sickly Girl]**
**[“Sickly Girl” Note: Upon equipping this title, you will immediately contract a seasonal illness.]**
“Sickly Girl? Isn’t this just trying to get me killed?”
Lin Jue puffed out her cheeks like a pufferfish and shook her pink fists. If she actually wore that title, she would definitely be bundled away by Su Yaqing the moment she collapsed!
Looking down, she decided to merge Endurance first before thinking about her next move.
**[Synthesis Successful! Obtained Endurance II]**
**[Acuity has been neutralized. Your perception of your surroundings has decreased.]**
**[You may dismantle Endurance II to restore Acuity.]**
Naturally, she wouldn’t dismantle it.
Ignoring the descriptive text at the end, Lin Jue began to focus on the issue with Su Yaqing again.
The person Su Yaqing liked was definitely her; there was no doubt about that.
It was just that the way she liked people was a bit obsessive, a bit crazy, and a bit hard to understand.
As for when she had started liking her, Lin Jue truly had no clue.
All this time, the two of them had interacted as good comrades-in-arms. They rarely mentioned emotional matters and spent most of their time on strategies to combat Residual Beasts.
The two had also had disputes over certain views, such as when their junior, Xia Yao, developed a psychological knot.
Lin Jue was used to straightforward communication, but that was the first time Su Yaqing had stood on the opposite side.
They had disagreements, but they had reconciled afterward.
Now, the person who had developed a knot was Su Yaqing herself.
Lin Jue hadn’t thought much about romance. The disconnect between the Magical Girl Tianyu and Lin Jue’s male persona had long since made her stop thinking about such things.
“But no matter what, if you like someone, just say it openly! Keeping it all bottled up inside never leads to anything good!”
Lin Jue still held onto her past beliefs.
“Start the third simulation.”
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